St. Bernard's Church

The library has recently obtained a postcard of one of Crawfordsville's historic structures: St. Bernard's Catholic Church. This church, which sat on the corner of Washington and Pike Streets (where Chase Bank is now) was dedicated with much fanfare in 1876. The date written on the postcard -- 1874 -- is not the date of the picture, however, but rather the beginning of the construction. If you take a closer look at the postcard, you can see tracks running down the middle of Washington Street, and wires overhead. These tracks and wires were for the interurban trains that began servicing Crawfordsville in the early years of the 20th century. This view is one of the rare clear images that remain of the now demolished church.

Agriculture in Montgomery County!

Agriculture in Montgomery County!

Opening to the public on Thursday, March 1, 2012 at the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County, this exhibit will cover the history of Agriculture in Montgomery County as well as the state of Agriculture today.


To create this exhibit we need your help. If you have photographs of the Montgomery County Fair or photographs of local people at the Indiana State Fair, the museum would be interested in borrowing them for the exhibit. Also, old farm tools, maps, Almanacs, FFA Jackets and more are needed to complete the visual picture of Montgomery County Agriculture. Any items from the 1979 Farm Progress Show here in the county would be most welcome. Items can be donated to the museum or loaned to the museum for the duration of the exhibit.

The Carnegie Museum is located at:
222 S. Washington Street (US 231)
Crawfordsville, IN 47933
765-362-4618 (Front desk)
765-362-4622 (Curator)

image = "March 31, 1919 - Vora Terry and son Clayton in the field."

Christmas, 1948

In 1948, Harry S. Truman was president, gasoline was 26 cents a gallon, and only one in ten Americans has seen a television set up to this point! Christmas may not have been as commercialized as it is now, but Crawfordsville still tried to decorate for the holidays.  This scene is looking west on East Main Street during December 1948. Several businesses are shown, including: Crawfordsville Paint Store, Western Union, Val-U Dress Shop, Bank Cigar Store, Crawford Cafe (a Cafe sign is hanging near the Crawford Hotel), and the Crawford Hotel (which is now occupied by the Canine Plaza). The Christmas lights are strung all along the street, and cars are parked along the sidewalks.

Your donations benefit all!

We received a recent walk-in donation of this photograph of law enforcement officials and other dignataries.

Seven police officers in uniform (front row) and four men in formal civilian clothes (back row) pose in front of the General Lew Wallace statue on the grounds of the Wallace study, c. 1931-1934. The identification card included by the donor reads: "left-right:  Paul Branagan, Charles Johnson, Otto Biederstot, Merle Remley, 'IND State Police,' Charles Curtin, Fred Grimes." We have also been able to identify Mayor Thomas Cooksey, who  stands in the back row, third from the left.

We really appreciate such donations because we strive to protect your county's heritage and will work hard to preserve it for future generations -- as we make it available for all to enjoy. Contact us if you have anything you think would make a nice donation (or temporary loan for us to scan) to the Reference/Local History Department of CDPL!

"Buddy" Fire Dog

We often receive donations of historical photgraphs, but most tend to be of people or places. A recent donation, however, provided a portrait of a dog proudly posed on a stool. On back of the photograph was written:

"Buddy" Fire dog -- Always got on the truck in Crawfordsville. Taken in the late 1800's.

That is all the information we had...until an alert staff member saw an article while looking through the microfilm of old newspapers from 1904. On August 27, 1904, the Sunday Star included a small article on "Buddy" and on his unfortunate demise:

The little black dog, called "Buddy" and owned by Harry Swan, and which was always on hand when the fire bell rang, is dead. It made no difference where the dog was, he would go when the bell rang. If he was shut up in the house, he would race around, barking and awaking the people, so he could go to the fire. On Thursday evening, when the bell sounded the dog was up near the school house, and started towards the engine house. He met the team at Pike street, and in trying to turn around got under one of the horses and received a kick which caused his death. He would jump upon every dog which happened to be on the street as he was going to a fire, and he was almost the same as an attachment to the fire wagon. The fire boys are very sad over the death, and gave him a burial worthy of his place in life.

Buddy may have been forgotten for more than a century -- but he will now live on in our Local History archives.

7 of 8 Twins Pose Before Camera

"7 of 8 Twins Pose Before Camera" was the caption for a photo that appeared in the Journal Review on March 4, 1948. We had this photograph on our Image Database for years -- with no information other than the year -- until we accidentally found it in the newspaper while looking for something completley unrelated. The photo had a story, too, that allowed us to add much more to our database description! (So if you ever see one of our images and know more about it than what we provide, don't hesitate to tell us! That's how we improve our collection for you.)

Here is the Journal Review story that accompanied the photo: "Seven of the eight twins born at Culver hospital during the six-day period in the closing days of February 'blinked' innocently as they were photographed in the nursery at Culver hospital, with three hospital nurses holding three pairs of twins and the surviving twin of the fourth set lying in an incubator. Oldest baby in the group is Michael David Haworth, still in the incubator. He was born Saturday night, Feb 21, to Mr. and Mrs. Charles Haworth of Kingman. His twin sister died shortly after birth. The three sets of twins in the arms of the three nurses at the hospital, reading from left to right are: Becky Ann Sanders and Patsy Jean Sanders, twin sisters, born Tuesday morning, Feb. 24, to Mr. and Mrs. Leon Sanders, Ladoga, and being held by Nurse Ruth Steinkamp; Jane Jean Wharff and Wayne Martin Wharff, daughter and son of Mr. and Mrs. Otis Wharff, Covington street, Crawfordsville, born Friday morning Feb 27, and being held by Nurse Marjorie Martin, and on the extreme right -- Michael Lee Walker and Madonna Dee Walker, boy and girl babies born Wednesday evening, Feb. 25, to Mr. and Mrs. Noble Walker, of Jamestown. Nurse Osia Woodruff is holding the Walker twins."

Now we have names to go with the nurses and the babies!

What Was There?

As you travel around Montgomery County, have you ever wondered what certain areas looked like long before you came along? Now is your chance to find out! A web site called WhatWasThere has made it easy for people around the world to contribute to a project where images of the past can be superimposed over images from today (using Google Street View). WhatWasThere's objective is to create "a new human experience of time and space – a virtual time machine of sorts that allows users to navigate familiar streets as they appeared in the past."

Go to WhatWasThere and search by your city (e.g., Crawfordsville, IN) or zip code (e.g., 47933) to see some of the images that the Reference/Local History staff have already added. We have just a handful at this time but plan to keep adding! Where do we get our "old" pictures? Well, we use our ever-growing Image Database to find past views that we know we can place with current views.You are welcome to help us, too, if you wish to get a free account with WhatWasThere.